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Square Root

This document discusses different methods for calculating square roots. It begins by explaining multiplication and division, and defining square roots as a number whose square equals a given number. It then describes two methods: the long division method, which uses iterative guessing and subtraction to refine the estimate, and the Babylonian method, which takes the average of an estimate and its reciprocal quotient to converge on the root. An example demonstrates applying each method to find the square root of 15129.

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Ajay Choudhury
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
175 views

Square Root

This document discusses different methods for calculating square roots. It begins by explaining multiplication and division, and defining square roots as a number whose square equals a given number. It then describes two methods: the long division method, which uses iterative guessing and subtraction to refine the estimate, and the Babylonian method, which takes the average of an estimate and its reciprocal quotient to converge on the root. An example demonstrates applying each method to find the square root of 15129.

Uploaded by

Ajay Choudhury
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Square Roots

Andy Soper
June 28, 2013
This document was constructed and type-set using P C TE X
(a dielect of LA TE X)

Introduction

1.1

Multiplication and Division

Multiplication is an addition process


3 17 = 17 + 17 + 17 = 51
Division is a subtraction process
53 17 = 51 17 17 17 = 3 remainder 2

1.2

Square Roots

The square root x, of a number a, is a number such that


xx=a
This is a relatively trivial problem (Without a Calculator [WaC]) if a is a
square number. It is not hard to find the square root of 289 if we know that the
sqare root is an integer. Can you deduce this using 152 = 225 and 202 = 400 ?
If the number to be square-rooted WaC is not a square number then the problem is quite different.
Pythagoras Theorem (Pythagoras lived from about 570 BCE to 495 BCE) for
solving a right-angled triangle solves one problem and creates another. Pythagoras enables us to find the square of the third side of a right angled triangle given
the other two, but leaves us with the need to find the square-root of the answer.
If the sides are a, b and c and c is the longest side (and unknown)
p
c = (a2 + b2 )
There is archeological evidence that the Babylonians knew of the Pythagorean
Theorem a thousand years earlier and so it is not surprising that they had a
method of finding square roots. Incidentally they also solved quadratic equations using the quadratic formula (The Beast).
We will look at two methods, the Long Division Method and the Babylonian
Method
.../ over page

1.3

The Long Division Method

Consider a square of area S. We try to find the length of a side. we make a


guess A where

A< S
Hence

SA=B

and so B is the error of our guess, A. Also

Figure 1: Estimating the side of square of area S

S = (A + B)2 = A2 + 2AB + B 2
and so the error in the area is
2AB + B 2
Notice that if A is a reasonable guess then B 2 is quite a bit smaller than 2AB
Now the Long Division Method
Over page / ...

Let us find the square root of 15129


Note: For every one or two digits of a number we will get 1 digit of the square
root. For example

9=3
49 = 7
81 = 9
100 = 10
225 = 15
1600 = 40
Partition the number from the right in blocks of 2 digits 15129.0000
Our square root will have a hundreds digit, a tens digit, a units digit and possibly some digits to the right of the decimal point.
We guess that the hundreds digit will be 1=
We square 1 and subtract 10000 from the area(S)
Now we have 5129.0000 remaining. The approximate area error is 2AB where
the 2A is in the tens position and B is in the units position.
Our new divisor is 2B and this must divide into 51. 2B times B must be less
than 51. Use B=2. Our second digit =
We multiply back (22x2), subtract (to get 7) and bring down 29 to form 729.
Our new divisor is 2x12+B =24B. Choose B=3. Our third digit =
243x3 = 729: We have a perfect square. 123 =

15129 =

Figure 2: Example of Long Division Method:

15129

1.4

The Babylonian Method

Figure 3: Babylonian Clay Tablet: Calculation of


Their calculation is: 1 +

24
60

51
602

10
603

= 1.41421296...

Let us find the square root of 15129 again. first we make an estimate (a
thoughtful guess) and choose 100 since 1002 = 10000. We know that this guess
is too small. Divide 15129 by 100 and we get 151.29. This is too big. Take the
average: Since we are dealing with approximations we can loose the decimals
when the difference is still large:
100+151
2

= 125.5

This we know is too big: Divide 15129 by 125 and get 121 (too small) and
take the average 123.016.
Now that is very close to the actual answer, 123!
The problem with this method is that we may have to do some heavy longdivision. It is fine to choose a first estimate that it is easy to divide by (we
chose 100). The second estimate is effectively another first estimate: We can
make changes to the next estimate to make it easier to divide by also, and so on...
This method is well suited to a computer. When the estimate and the
quotient are nearly equal we are close to the square root.

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